2007
December
23 • Have Yourself a Messy Little Christmas by
Andy MacBeth
"I am deeply impressed by those families that have the house
decorated,
the Christmas tree up, and most of the presents already under it by
December 10."
December
9 • Which Way to Bethlehem by Eyleen Farmer
"Getting to Bethlehem from Memphis, Tennessee is no easy matter."
November
25 • God & Play by George Yandell
"In 1938, Johan Huizinga wrote Homo Ludens ("Game-playing
Man") in which he began, 'Play is older than culture...human
civilization added no essential feature to the general idea of play.'"
November
11 • Harvest Festival by Bonnie Malone
"It was a rather dry and hot summer in Memphis this year, and
as it comes to harvest time, some farmers will not have had the produce
they hoped for..."
October
28 • Embracing our Faith Community by Andy MacBeth
"I hope your kids will be wearing REALLY scary costumes on October
31. Personally, I have two costumes to choose from..."
October
14 • Five Bars All the Time by George Yandell
"Okay. I got on the elevator at Methodist Hospital last Monday.
As I punched in my floor, a smiling lady said, "Hi-how's it going?
I smiled back at her and said, 'Pretty good, how about you?' Then
she said, "Oh yeah, we had a great time last night - could you
believe what Annie was wearing?!..."
September
30 • Don't Wait by Andy MacBeth
"In a former parish, there was an elderly parishioner I barely
knew. He sent a check twice a year to cover his pledge of $1 per week
and hardly ever showed up—not even at Christmas or Easter..."
September
16 • Angels Unawares: Calvary's End-of-Life Ministry
by Eyleen Farmer
"Some of the richest times of my ministry were the eleven years
I spent as a hospice chaplain..."
September
2 • Instructions for Worship by Andy MacBeth
"As we begin a new fall worship season, I have prepared some
slightly fanciful (and challenging) worship instructions for Calvary’s
clergy and people..."
August
19 • Enter the Flow by George Yandell
"There’s a deep spiritual pulse that throbs for people
who live into and through the seasons of the Church year."
August
5 • On Being Historic by Andy MacBeth
"In the 2007 edition of the red Episcopal Church Annual, which
lists every congregation, diocese by diocese, and every clergyperson,
alphabetically, I noticed a new set of abbreviations..."
July
22 • A Track to the Water's Edge by Eyleen Farmer
"Jesus was always walking on the edge. It's one of the things
about him that both challenges me and compels me to try to be a follwer..."
July
8 • Communion of the Absent by George Yandell
"Central to the Episcopal Church’s understanding of the
Eucharist is mystical participation with and in the resurrected Jesus:
not only the engagement of us gathered around the Altar on Sundays,
but also the mystical participation of those not present. What does
that mean?"
June
24 • The Hospitality HUB for Homeless People: Being Church
Together by Bonnie Malone
"When we started to envision the Hospitality HUB, more than a
year ago, a simple statement from the Downtown Churches’ Association
about the HUB was, 'We want to be the church for homeless people in
downtown Memphis.'..."
June
10 • Our Commitment by Andy MacBeth
"I am glad to be part of a Christian tradition that does not
pressure people, that gives them whatever time it takes for the Spirit
to work within them and bring
them into the relationship with God that God wants for them..."
May
27 • Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall... by Eyleen Farmer
"Most of us will remember the nursery rhyme from our childhood..."
May 13 • A Fresh Perspective by Andy MacBeth
"I am always fascinated by the fresh perspective newcomers bring, so I like to ask them what they perceive as “familiar” or “different” about Calvary before they have become so much a part of our culture that they lose any awareness of this. ..."
April 29 • Violence and Evil by George Yandell
"Seung-Hui Cho is a name that will haunt us for a long time to come..."
April 15 • Easter Conversion by Bonnie Malone
"It has been said that converts are the most zealous of believers in any religion..."
April 1 • Holy Week & Easter by Andy MacBeth
"I am sure no one MEANT to be cruel,
but still, asking kids to go door-to-door
selling chocolate-covered coconut cream Easter eggs when most of us
had given up candy for Lent was not very thoughtful..."
March 18 • God's Kingdom Come by George Yandell
"On Saturday morning, March 3, I witnessed
the kingdom of heaven
unfolding before me..."
March 4 • Consider the Crocus by Eyleen Farmer
"I saw a yellow crocus in my garden this morning. They startle me every year, the crocuses do, since everything around them still looks like winter..."
February
18 • Lenten Limerick by George Yandell
"With the turn of the page of the Church calendar, we begin the
40 days of Lent..."
January
21 • Responding to God's Call: 1832-2007 by Bonnie
Malone
"The Old Testament lesson for Epiphany 4 begins, ‘Now the
word of the Lord came to me saying, Before I formed you in the womb
I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you’..."
January
7 • Top 10 Reasons to Become Involved in Youth Ministry
by Eyleen Farmer
"#10. You'll bump your music IQ into the 21st century..."